SYDNEY, March 12 (Reuters) - New Zealand's Transport

Accident Investigation Commission said on Tuesday it was seizing

the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of a LATAM

Airlines Boeing 787 after an incident that left

more than 50 people injured.

The airline and passengers aboard the Sydney-Auckland flight

on Monday said the plane with 263 passengers and nine crew

members on board dropped abruptly mid-air.

"My neighbour who was in the seat two over from me, there

was a gap in between us, as soon as I woke I looked and he was

on the ceiling and I thought I was dreaming," Brian Adam Jokat,

a Canadian citizen residing in the UK who was travelling on the

plane said on Tuesday.

Photos taken by Jokat after the incident showed damage

sustained to the ceiling of the airplane where he said fellow

passengers had hit it.

The New Zealand accident investigator said Chilean

authorities had confirmed they had opened a probe into the

flight, and it was assisting with their enquiries.

A spokesperson for TAIC said because the incident occurred

in international airspace it fell to Chilean accident

investigation authority Direccion General de Aeronautica Civil

(DGAC) to open an inquiry.

LATAM is based in Chile and the flight was due to continue

on to Santiago after stopping in Auckland.

"TAIC is in the process of gathering evidence relevant to

the inquiry, including seizing the cockpit voice and flight data

recorders," the New Zealand agency said, referring to the

so-called "black boxes" that will provide more information on

the flight's trajectory and communications between pilots.

DGAC said in a statement it was working with TAIC on the

investigation.

LATAM did not immediately respond to a request for comment

on whether it had given the black boxes to TAIC. The airline

said earlier on Tuesday it would assist the relevant authorities

on any investigation into the "strong shake" during the flight.

The cause of the apparent sudden change in trajectory of the

flight is currently unexplained. Safety experts say most

airplane accidents are caused by a cocktail of factors that need

to be thoroughly investigated.

New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement

it would also assist in the investigation if required.

The has been renewed debate over the length of cockpit

recordings in the aviation industry since it was revealed voice

recorder data on the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet that

lost a panel mid-flight in January was overwritten.